


Warmth

by Crystallion12



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cuddles, Gen, Just some good tired bois, Mindless Fluff, Writing exercise / warm-up, soft angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 20:43:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19449193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystallion12/pseuds/Crystallion12
Summary: “Maybe they’re damaged and maybe they’re broken — but here, in this quiet, soft moment they can forget all that.Just for a moment...He leans their heads together, basking in a shared, toasty warmth, and in the quiet lonesome night they snuggle closer and let the rhythm of their heartbeats align.”In the aftermath of a long and tiring day, Eren and Armin find warmth, and solace, in one another.





	Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> Did this up some weeks ago and figured I’d make my dead ass post it :’) Gosh S3 killed me... Fall 2020 CANNOT come soon enough ;^;
> 
> Note, if you aren’t caught up to AT LEAST S3 Ep18 you’re facing a pretty big spoiler. You’ve been warned! :3

It had been a dreadfully long day. It’d just been a terribly draining, freezing day overall and he felt rotten for it. Too much had happened lately — so much confusion, and then — contorted feelings and ideals and lives. It wasn’t simple like it used to be… no. Really, he didn’t even want to think about it… he didn’t want to at all.

It was a lot of take in and cope with. Change, overall, tended to be.

Lifting his hand before his eyes, skin baby smooth and bright, Armin can’t help but wonder back.

What had he considered Eren, for a while?

_A monster?_

And now, he thought, fate had bitten back and had bitten hard. He’d joined his friend in this cursed, breathtaking pit of hell.

Typical.

He sat perched on the edge of the step, not quite ready to face the others again yet. Not that they’d necessarily done anything wrong… nothing had been, excluding the overhanging reality they were currently stuck in, and processing. But — all of those thoughts were so clustering and eventually, he found they’d peak and riot and he just had to take a moment. So, his friends can wait.

So he tilts back his head and lets his eyes shut close; breathing, in and out, delicate frosty breath on his tongue and making him shiver.

Peace and quiet. He appreciates it. Lonely, but soothing…

For maybe three minutes.

His senses tingle, and jolt, long before the warm, heavy impact. He yelps, feeling lithe arms and torso drape over him, with a muffled groan sending lazy vibrations through his jacket and back. Armin identifies it as Eren, based on the dead-inside groan, the angle of his fall and the resulting position reflecting his best friend’s questionable mental state.

“You’re hot,” Eren mumbles.

Ah.

Wait— okay, _what_?

Armin jerks his head, sharply, the best he could, towards Eren, looking affronted and admittedly embarrassed. Eren merely gave a displeased rumble at the disruption, one hand tugging at the back of his shirt and nestling closer with a passion. He seemed quite intent on being there.

“Eren? Eren, you uh. Okay there?”

“Hmm...”

“Hot. Which means…”

Eren blinked, sleepily, at him, and gave a half-energetic nod. “Mmhmm. Yeah. You’re hot. It’s nice.”

Aaaaand now he’s blushing.

“Like... uh.... physically? Eren? _Eren?_ ”

“Of course.”

The Shifter (only... he’s one of those too, now...) was mumbling. Armin wasn’t sure it was even coherent. He just looked exhausted — even more than him, which was a real testament.

Still, he didn’t think it important to clarify his statement for a whole further two minutes.

The blonde had since fallen still and silent, decidedly not budging, despite it all. It’s not like he minded the contact. Not at all, if he were honest. It was almost... nice. Comforting. The steady lull of a dim heartbeat, and the calm rise and fall of the other’s torso was reassuring, rhythmical; his body presented a gentle warmth and presence Armin couldn’t quite describe.

“Yeah, you’re... hot,” Eren said, half-lidded eyes lazily dropping again. “Warm. It’s nice... you’re like a nice big hot water-bottle. Your neck is really hot, too, did you know that...? Hmm...”

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Unable to help it, Armin gaped — he stared, staggered, at Eren, and promptly giggled under his breath.

Yeah, he guesses he _is_ kinda hot. It’s not something they’d noticed in Bertholdt, before it all went to hell, but they’d also never been... so close, he supposed. They’d never needed to and even if they’d done so, they would never account it to anything suspicious. Just a weird tid-bit about their once-friend, that was all.

When he’d assumed the role — taking the Colossal Titan’s power — they’d noticed a very slight detail to Armin’s human form; he was quite warm. Abnormally so.

The same was with all Shifters, to a small degree, but mostly unnoticeable unless in special circumstances. One such time (okay, well, a few) had involved them gravitating towards Eren, on a winter’s night, because he was simply just a bit warmer and his hands weren’t as freezing. The other Scouts had, too, and with a small, bittersweet smile Armin could fondly recall those simpler times. If he tried hard enough, yes — he could still hear the sounds of raucous laughter and the bumping of shoulders and shuffling of cloaks.

It makes him stop, then. Because yes, it’s a cold night right now, and Eren IS slightly shivering, just a little. It’s dwindled significantly since he’d latched himself on, but hadn’t receded at all.

Why was he cold...?

“Eren?”

Gemstone eyes, somewhere between emerald and turquoise and jade, pierced onto him again. (He looked half-indignant, like he just wanted to have his cuddle in peace and was deeply insulted to have it interrupts. Drama-Queen.)

“Yeah?”

The blonde reaches to his side, and gently takes Eren’s hand into his own, clasping it to his lap. He frowns, rubbing over icy, hard knuckles, and turns back to Eren. “Why are you cold? Is something wrong?”

“Cold...? I’m...” the Shifter hesitated. He buried his face in the crevice between Armin’s neck and shoulder, huffing. “...well it’s just... I do get cold. Sometimes. Just like everyone else and... all this time, they’ve clung to me for warmth.”

Oh.

It made sense. Armin didn’t even feel the need to dwell on it; he simply knew. It was a simple thing, really, anyone ought to being able to comprehend.

It was okay to want to rely on someone, every once in a while, instead of always being that person relied on.

Eren has always had his back, through thick and thin, all these years; and so had they. It was as natural as breathing, their trust, companionship and loyalty. There was no debts, or repayments, because it was all equal in the end. And now, more so than ever, they really were equal (as morbid, in a sense, it could be).

He’s honestly pretty happy to repay this particular favour.

So Armin hums, contently, and he wraps his arm around Eren’s waist and tugs him closer.

Maybe they’re damaged and maybe they’re broken — but here, in this quiet, soft moment they can forget all that.

Just for a moment...

He leans their heads together, basking in a shared, toasty warmth, and in the quiet lonesome night they snuggle closer and let the rhythm of their heartbeats align.

He knows, it’s a moment they’ll keep tucked away in the depths of their hearts.

He knows this, knows it’ll linger long after the war’s over and all’s said and done. He hopes, by the end of the war, they can maybe share this moment again. He hopes they can continue to have moments like these for as long as they live, however long that may be.

Catching the smallest tugs at the corners of Eren’s lips, too, with his face lax and peaceful (and oh, how that’d become so rare, and precious...) his friend would probably say the same thing.

They’ll remember this day, and wait on those days far into the future.

Even though they’re just scattered moments, sprinkled throughout their lives, in these moments — here, then and now — they’ll share each other’s warmth.


End file.
